According to Wikipedia, Immanuel Velikovsky's "... books use comparative mythology and ancient literary sources (including the Bible) to argue that Earth has suffered catastrophic close-contacts with other planets (principally Venus and Mars) in ancient times."

"... Immanuel Velikovsky (Иммануил Великовский) (Vitebsk, June 10, 1895 (NS) – November 17, 1979) is a Russian-born American independent scholar, best known as the author of a number of controversial books reinterpreting the events of ancient history, in particular the US bestseller Worlds in Collision, published in 1950. Earlier, he played a role in the founding of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel, and was a respected psychiatrist and psychoanalyst.

"His books use comparative mythology and ancient literary sources (including the Bible) to argue that Earth has suffered catastrophic close-contacts with other planets (principally Venus and Mars) in ancient times. In positioning Velikovsky among catastrophists including Hans Bellamy, Ignatius Donnelly, and Johann Gottlieb Radlof, the British astronomers Victor Clube and Bill Napier noted ". . . Velikovsky is not so much the first of the new catastrophists . . . ; he is the last in a line of traditional catastrophists going back to mediaeval times and probably earlier." Velikovsky argued that electromagnetic effects play an important role in celestial mechanics. He also proposed a revised chronology for ancient Egypt, Greece, Israel and other cultures of the ancient Near East. The revised chronology aimed at explaining the so-called "dark age" of the eastern Mediterranean (ca. 1100 – 750 BCE) and reconciling biblical history with mainstream archeology and Egyptian chronology.

He arrived at a body of radical inter-disciplinary ideas, which might be summarized as:

* Planet Earth has suffered natural catastrophes on a global scale, both before and during mankind's recorded history.
* There is evidence for these catastrophes in the geological record (here Velikovsky was advocating Catastrophist ideas as opposed to the prevailing Uniformitarian notions) and archeological record. The extinction of many species had occurred catastrophically, not by gradual Darwinian means.
* The catastrophes which occurred within the memory of mankind are recorded in the myths, legends and written history of all ancient cultures and civilisations. Velikovsky pointed to alleged concordances in the accounts of many cultures, and proposed that they referred to the same real events. For instance, the memory of a flood is recorded in the Hebrew Bible, in the Greek legend of Deucalion and in the Manu legend of India. Velikovsky put forward the psychoanalytic idea of "Cultural Amnesia" as a mechanism whereby these literal records came to be regarded as mere myths and legends.
* The cause of these natural catastrophes were close encounters between the Earth and other bodies within the solar system — not least what were now the planets Saturn, Jupiter, Venus and Mars, these bodies having moved upon different orbits within human memory.
* To explain the celestial mechanics necessary to permit these changes to the configuration of the solar system, Velikovsky thought that electromagnetic forces might somehow play a greater role to counteract gravity and orbital mechanics.
* Velikovsky argued that the conventional chronology of the Near East and classical world, based upon Egyptian Sothic dating and the king lists of Manetho, was wholly flawed. This was the reason for the apparent absence of correlation between the Biblical record and those of neighbouring cultures, and also the cause of the enigmatic "Dark Ages" in Greece and elsewhere. Velikovsky shifted several chronologies and dynasties from the Egyptian Old Kingdom to Ptolemaic times by centuries (a scheme he called the Revised Chronology), placing the Exodus contemporary with the fall of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. He proposed numerous other synchronisms stretching up to the time of Alexander the Great. He argued that these eliminate phantom "Dark Ages", and vindicate the biblical accounts of history and those recorded by Herodotus. For further details, see the Ages in Chaos article.

Some of Velikovsky's specific postulated catastrophes included:

* A tentative suggestion that Earth had once been a satellite of a "proto-Saturn" body, before its current solar orbit.
* That the Deluge (Noah's Flood) had been caused by proto-Saturn entering a nova state, and ejecting much of its mass into space.
* A suggestion that the planet Mercury was involved in the Tower of Babel catastrophe.
* Jupiter had been the culprit for the catastrophe which saw the destruction of the "Cities of the Plain" (Sodom and Gomorrah)
* Periodic close contacts with a cometary Venus (which had been ejected from Jupiter) had caused the Exodus events (c.1500 BCE) and Joshua's subsequent "sun standing still" incident.
* Periodic close contacts with Mars had caused havoc in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE.

The Wikipedia article goes on to say that much of Velikovsky's work and theses are eroneous and that many scholars completely dismiss or discredit his work. Nonetheless, there is much to be gained from exploring his substantial body of work. Click here

Immanuel Velikovsky's views

According to Wikipedia in its treatise on catastrophism " In the 1950s, Immanuel Velikovsky propounded catastrophism in several popular books. He speculated that the planet Venus is a former "comet" which was ejected from Jupiter and subsequently 3,500 years ago made two catastrophic close passes by Earth, 52 years apart, and later interacted with Mars, which then had a series of near collisions with Earth which ended in 687 B.C.E., before settling into its current orbit. Velikovsky used this to explain the Biblical plagues of Egypt, the Biblical reference to the "Sun standing still" for a day (explained by changes in Earth's rotation), and the sinking of Atlantis. In general, scientists rejected Velikovsky's theories, often quite passionately. Attempts were made to prevent the publication of his books by pressuring his first publisher, Macmillan, which only increased the books popularity.Not all scientists shared this viewpoint, and his supporters point out that Albert Einstein remained a close friend of Velikovsky's until his death. However, Einstein made it clear in their correspondence that although he had come to accept the fact of global catastrophism, he did not accept his friend's ideas regarding Venus as one of its causes...."

Are the Bodies of the Solar System Charged ... or Are They Not?

Einstein's Understanding of this Matter (before the Advent of Radio Telescopes and Confirming Discoveries) ... and Velikovsky's Steadfast Stance.

From Before the Day Breaks (a record of and a tribute to Einstein's relationship with Velikovsky) ".... Strangely, one of Einstein’s marginal notes to my chapter on Lafleur agreed with the latter’s argument that the Earth is neutral because of the behavior of the leaves of an electroscope touching the ground—they do not diverge. To me it was clear that the behavior of the leaves does not give an answer to the question whether or not the Earth is charged. The Earth being charged in relation to the upper atmosphere, the lines of force would pass in near-parallels vertically and, consequently, there would be no divergence of the leaves of the electroscope. Nikola Tesla was a great inventor, perhaps the greatest electrical engineer who ever lived; he would not have asserted that the Earth is a highly charged body if such a simple test with an electroscope could solve the problem. Actually, there is a permanent stream of electrons flowing from the ground upwards: it is calculated that between the feet and the head of a standing man of medium height there is a 150 volt potential. The source of this stream of electrons, or of the source of replenishment of the permanent discharge of the Earth, is not known.

"The question of whether the bodies of the solar system are charged or not was from the beginning the question between Einstein and myself; as he acknowledged in a mhttp://www.varchive.org/cor/einstein/index.htmarginal note to my letter of June 16, 1954, this contention of mine was the main reason for the display of indignation against myself and my work...." Immanual Velikovsky CLICK HERE for more of the story. See also Einstein-Velikovsky Correspondence 1946 to 1955. Velikovsky is the controversial author of Worlds in Collision, the last book Einstein was apparently re-reading before he died. For more information, also see The Immanuel Velikovsky Archive.

"The time has come for a complete paradigm shift in planetary science. Dance of the Planets presents the new paradigm. You may not believe it yet, but the sheer weight of evidence makes it inevitable. Read the Velikovsky/Angiras scenario to understand the events which we have used to determine the true nature of each of the planets....Suspend Disbelief until you read both volumes. We believe that any thinking person will see that we have revealed the true nature of the Solar System...."

The Velikovsky/Angiras Scenario"....Prior to the Bronze Age I (BA I) there existed only two terrestrial planets, Earth and what we call priori-Mars. Mercury and Venus were not present. Priori-Mars, the more ancient of the two by some 800 million years, orbited closer to the Sun than the Earth, with a radius similar to that of Venus today. The Earth was in an orbit similar to its present one. Jupiter was a calm bluish ice planet, similar to Uranus and Neptune as currently shown in NASA Voyager photographs. Saturn was the brightest planet in the heavens, because its ring system was younger and larger than now.

"About 6000 years ago a massive galactic 'traveler' entered our solar system at very high velocity and impacted Jupiter, releasing at least 1040 ergs. Its impact vaporized an enormous mass of material which rebounded into space at high velocity. The resulting plasma cloud was thousands of times the volume of Jupiter itself and glowed with a golden color. Most of it escaped the gravitational pull of Jupiter and went into an eccentric orbit around the Sun. The plasma contracted rapidly, forming a star-like body or proto-planet. This was the birth of proto-Venus...."

Dance of the Planets 2 - A New Solar System Paradigm "...examines the consequences of the Velikovsky/Angiras (V/A) scenario for the origin and makeup of the other planets. Based on the scenario, we postulate that every planet is different from what scientists currently believe, with the exception of Uranus and Neptune. For those readers, including planetary scientists, who accept the current 'uniformitarian' paradigm in which all the planets have been in place for billions of years, we urge you to open your minds and Suspend Disbelief until you read both volumes. We believe that any thinking person will see that we have revealed the true nature of the Solar System..."

Einstein's Fascination with the
Flight of Flocks of Birds

Einstein's words to Immanuel Velikovsky during the close of their last meeting, just day's before Einstein died:

".... But soon he sat again close to me, almost touching my left arm, and listened to me, and peace descended on him; his long hair hung framing his face, his eyes were looking across the room through the picture window toward the upper branches of the big trees in the back yard, and the expanse of the sky.

Hundreds of birds in a fluttering swarm flew at a distance, all in one direction, and the swarm moved in a wave-like motion down and up as they hurried by. I looked for a few moments at the flying birds, and then continued my words. But soon again Einstein, enchanted, looked at another swarm of birds returning from their winter quarters in the south, and again could not resist calling my attention to them. He followed their flight with longing, and his face shone with sweet sadness. It was already the hour of twilight, the trees stood silent outside, still leafless, the branches hardly moving in the stillness of the clear and balmy hour...." from the Immanuel Velikovsky archive project.